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<blockquote data-quote="Sunseeker" data-source="post: 6908593">Early on, I create conflicts.&nbsp; The real stories in my gameworld don't really kick in until the players get a little rep for themselves.&nbsp; (like level 5).&nbsp; This gives me a chance to gauge how my players are going to react in the future to similar stimuli.&nbsp; Some players are predictable, some players aren't.&nbsp; When creating a game, I always start with the &quot;what&quot;, in this case that's the conflict.&quot;An ancient artifact sits in front of you, slowly growing warmer and brighter.&quot;Okay, now I look at the situation and address the &quot;why&quot;.&quot;A wizard created a device of unknown power and his fried corpse is in the corner.&quot;Now that I know what the problem is, why it's a problem, I look for answers.&nbsp; Obviously an arcana check exists here, but what if noone is good with Arcana?&nbsp; Okay, how about a &quot;use device&quot; type check?&nbsp; What about just smashing the dang thing?I can't respond to the players actions if I don't know what the possible outcomes of these questions are.&nbsp; D&amp;D doesn't run itsself.&nbsp; Maybe the kobolds run away when the Paladin crit one-shots their leader, maybe they go kamakazi.&nbsp; These are decisions I make beforehand.Otherwise the players are fighting meaningless battles for no reason.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Sunseeker, post: 6908593"] Early on, I create conflicts. The real stories in my gameworld don't really kick in until the players get a little rep for themselves. (like level 5). This gives me a chance to gauge how my players are going to react in the future to similar stimuli. Some players are predictable, some players aren't. When creating a game, I always start with the "what", in this case that's the conflict. "An ancient artifact sits in front of you, slowly growing warmer and brighter." Okay, now I look at the situation and address the "why". "A wizard created a device of unknown power and his fried corpse is in the corner." Now that I know what the problem is, why it's a problem, I look for answers. Obviously an arcana check exists here, but what if noone is good with Arcana? Okay, how about a "use device" type check? What about just smashing the dang thing? I can't respond to the players actions if I don't know what the possible outcomes of these questions are. D&D doesn't run itsself. Maybe the kobolds run away when the Paladin crit one-shots their leader, maybe they go kamakazi. These are decisions I make beforehand. Otherwise the players are fighting meaningless battles for no reason. [/QUOTE]

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